Furnace-door opener



(Nh ModeL) WUTNESSESr G. P. MOO RS. FURNACE DOOR OPENER.

Patented Apr. 29, 1890.

Arm/mm.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE FREDERICK MOORS, OF OWVENSBOROUGH, KENTUCKY.

FURNACE-DOOR OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 426,461, dated April29, 1890.

Application filed August 7, 1889. Serial No. 320,004. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE FREDERICK HOOKS, of Owensborough, in thecounty of Daviess and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Furnace- Door Openers, of which the followingis a full,clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a device for opening and closing furnace-doors,especially adapted for use in connection with locomotive steam-boilersand other large boiler-furnaces, and has for its object to provide ameans whereby when the fireman bears his weight upon or presses on afoot-plate the door of the furnace will be automatically opened, andwhereby when the plate is released the door will be instantly andautomatically closed, thus obviating the necessity of leaving the dooropen during the entire process of firing and thereby cooling thefurnace.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointedout inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a furnace, illustratingthe application of the device. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the mainfloor, illustrating the attachment of the device thereto. Fig. 3 is adetail side elevation and a partial sectional view of the door and itsscrewconnection with the rockshaft. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the yokethrough which the screw passes. Fig. 5 is a perspective View .of thepawl attached to the foot-plate, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of thelower end of the yoke-carrying link.

The door 10 is hinged to the furnace 11 in the usual manner, and beneaththe main floor 12 of an engine-cab, for instance, an auxiliary or lowerfloor 13 is constructed, which may consist of a series of beams only.Upon this lower floor a rock-shaft 14 is j ournaled, hav- 4 ing one endcarried at a right angle therefrom in the direction of the furnace, asillustrated at 15 in Fig. 1, the other extremity being carried outwardat a right angle in the opposite direction and vertically upward, as

shown at 16, and again horizontally outward. Upon the upper horizontalextension of the rock-shaft a foot-plate 17 is rigidly bolted orotherwise secured, which foot-plate is adapted to project through theopening 18, produced in the upper or main floor 12, as illustrated inFig. 2.

At one side of the foot-plate at the inner end, which is provided withan angular recess 19, an upwardly and inwardly curved standard 20 issecured to the upper face of the floor, extending through and beyond theopening 18, in the side of which standard, contiguous to the foot-plate,a series of teeth 21 is cut. Upon the bottom of the foot-plate a pawl 22is pivoted, consistingof an angled plate extending preferably parallelwith one longitudinal edge of the foot-plate and across the recessed orinner end thereof,-the said pawl being provided with anupwardly-extending lip or lug 23, integral with one side. The lug isheld normally in contact with the side of the foot-plate by means of aspring 24, secured to the said plate and to the pawl, as

1 shown in Fig. 2. The pawl may be made to contact or engage with theteeth of the standard 20 at any time by pressing the lug or liplaterally outward.

The inner crank-arm 15 of the rock-shaft is normally held essentially incontact with the lower floor 13 by means of a spring 25, the function ofwhich spring is to draw the said crank-arm downward. The crank-arm 15 ispreferably made to terminate in a loop 26, and through said loop thelower end of a link 27 is passed, which link is provided with a seriesof apertures 28 and is attached to the loop by a pin passed through thelatter and through one of the apertures, as shown in Fig. 1. The upperend of the link isformed as a yoke 29, and in the said yoke, which ispreferably rectangular in general contour, two parallel andhorizontallyaligning friction-rollers 30 are pivoted, as shown in Fig.4, the said friction-rollers being of greatest diameter at the center. i

To the under edge of the door 10, at its hinged end, a spiral, twisted,or screw plate 32 is attached at one end, the other end of which platepasses downward between the friction-rollers 30 of the yoke 29. When thecrank-arm 15 of the rock-shaft is in its normal position, the yoke 29 isdrawn downward near the lower end of the screw -plate 32, whereupon thesaid plate is so turned as to force the door closed and to retain it insuch position.

When it is necessary to fire, the fireman presses with one foot upon thefoot-plate 17, whereupon the crank-arm is elevated and the yoke 29forced upward, and the upward movement of the yoke and the contact ofthe yoke friction-rollers with the screw-plate 321 cvolve the said plateto such an extent as to fully open the door, as shown in Fig. 1.

If it is desired to retain the door in the open position by lateralpressure against the lip 23 of the pawl attached to the foot-plate, thesaid pawl is made to engage with one of the teeth 21 of the standard 20.To close the door, the pawl is returned to its normal position,whereupon the spring 25 acting presses the yoke downward and shuts thedoor.

The adjustment of the link 27, carrying the yoke 29, with the crank-arm15 of the rock shaft, is provided in order that the door may be opened,when the foot-plate is pressed downward, any desired distance.

. In Fig. 2 I have illustrated the rock-shaft as journaled upon theunder face of the main floor, the lower or auxiliary floor beingdispensed with. When the shaft is so placed, the crank-arm 16 extendsupward through an aperture in the floor, the foot-plate is above thefloor, the standards 20 being secured to the upper face of the same, andthe spring is secured to the under face of the floor and is made to beardownward upon the crankarm 15 of the rock-shaft.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire .to secureby Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a rock-shaft pro- I videdwith a crank-arm and a spring secured thereto, of a link adjustablysecured to the said crank-arm, carrying a yoke having convex frictionalsurfaces, and a screw or spiral 4 plate adapted for attachment to thefurnacedoor and passed downward through the yoke in contact with itsfrictional surfaces, substantially as shown and described. 7

2. The combination, with a rock-shaft pro- 5 vided with aspring-actuated crank-arm, of a foot-plate secured to one end of therock-shaft, a link ad justably attached to the outer extremity of thespring-actuated crank-arm, a yoke formed integral with the upper end of5 the link, provided with parallel friction-rollers, and a screw orspiral plate adapted forattachment to the furnace-door and passeddownward through the yoke in contact with the rollers, substantially asand for the pur- 6 pose specified.

3.. The combination, with a rock-shaft having a spring-actuatedcrank-arm integral with one end and a second angled crank-arm extendingin an opposite direction from the op- 6;

posite end, a foot-plate attached to the angled crank-arm, a pawlpivoted to the bottom of the plate, and a toothed standard adapted forengagement with the said pawl, of an adj ustable link secured to thespring-actuated crank- 7 arm of the rock-shaft, a yoke integral with theupper end of the said link, having parallel spaced friction-rollersjournaled therein, and a spiral or screw plate adapted for attachment tothe furnace-door and passed downward 7 through the yoke in contact withthe frictionrollers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEORGE FREDERICK MOORS. lVitnesses:

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS, FREDERIO V. 'STIRMAN.

